APSL 16th Annual General Meeting

The 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK (APSL), was held on Saturday 30th May 2020. Due to the Covid-19 safety measures this year’s meeting was held online using the Zoom video conferencing facility.

Her Excellency Mrs Saroja Sirisena, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom, who is also the patron of the association graced the occasion. The AGM was also attended by APSL Executive Committee, APSL members and representatives of other Sri Lankan associations.

The meeting began by all attendees observing a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to all those who lost their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first session of the meeting began with the welcome address by the APSL president, Dr Mahesh de Silva. He briefly outlined the excellent progress made during the year 2019-20, and thanked the Executive Committee, all members and well-wishers who supported the association during the past year.

During the speech, he highlighted the importance of APSL working together with like-minded organizations on various humanitarian projects. Also, he mentioned the excellent progress made by APSL projects including the Scholarship Scheme as well as the Emergency Relief Programme initiated to support the Sri Lankans affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

APSL President’s address was followed by the reading of minutes of last AGM by the General Secretary, Dr Leshan Uggalla.

After the adoption of the minutes, Dr Leshan Uggalla presented the annual report for the year 2019 – 2020.

Treasurer Miss Buddhini Liyanage presented the Annual Statement of Accounts for the year 2019-2020, which was adopted as correct.

The election of the new Executive Committee for the year 2020-2021 followed next, with Mr Rohan De Alwis acting as the returning officer.

In the absence of any other nominations, the proposed list of nominees notified to the members were elected unanimously as the executive committee for the year 2020-2021.

Dr Mahesh De Silva who was re-elected as the president of APSL for a second term, addressed the gathering and thanked the High Commissioner, staff members of Sri Lankan high commission, all the APSL members and well-wishers, for the support given to the association. He also thanked the members for placing the confidence in him. Dr de Silva extended a special note of thanks to the outgoing general secretary Dr Leshan Uggalla for his dedicated services as well as for his leadership in delivering the Covid-19 emergency relief activities. He also thanked the outgoing members of the executive committee for their service and welcomed the newly elected members. He outlined his proposed programme for the year 2020-2021 and requested everyone to continue to support APSL.

Before ending the second session, an opportunity was given to the members to express their views and suggestions on matters related to APSL activities. It was a very fruitful discussion with many members coming up with very useful suggestions for the betterment of the association in the future.

Final session of the day was the Keynote address delivered by Her Excellency Mrs Saroja Sirisena, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom. Following her address, all attendees had an opportunity to introduce themselves to the new High Commissioner and have an informal discussion on various matters.

The AGM concluded with the vote of thanks delivered by the newly elected General Secretary Mrs Gayani Senaratne. She thanked the high commissioner, Sri Lankan High Commission staff for attending and for their continued support.

Mrs Senaratne also thanked representative of Hela Sarana and COSMOS for joining the AGM and their continued support for APSL activities. She further thanked Batticaloa Our Society for their support. Finally, she thanked the APSL executive committee, APSL members, family members and all those who attended the AGM to make it a great success.

The dedication and hard work by the respective project and event leaders, and the support given by the executive committee and members, was vital for the success of all the projects and events during the past year.

Our thanks are also extended to Sesatha, BBC Sinhala Service, Ceylon Mirror and Sri Lankans in the UK Facebook community platforms for providing publicity for our activities. APSL is also grateful to the various organisations who provided sponsorships for its events throughout the year.

It was a very successful 16th Annual General Meeting and we look forward to your support and participation in the coming year.

 

Mrs Gayani Senaratne

General Secretary

Association of Professional Sri Lankans in the UK (APSL UK)

UK Registered Charity No: 1145786

www.apsl.org.uk